There is also plenty to unpack in the film's various narrative threads, from the fascinating investigative trail that the searchers follow, chasing down record label owners, producers, and Detroit barflies, to the story's exotically pre-digital flavour...

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 3, 2024

The driving force of Searching For Sugar Man is the fans, and their journey from the discovery of their favourite singer to the sell-out South African shows he plays 30 years after...

| Original Score: 4/5 | May 4, 2021

If you go see Searching for Sugar Man - and I suggest you do - try not to know too much about him beforehand.

| Mar 10, 2021

Stranger than fiction, this is an incredible story about a true talent.

| Dec 2, 2020

Benefits from camera work by Camilla Skagerstrom that is nothing short of amazing and beautiful and the perfect meditative counterpart to Rodriguez's music.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 22, 2020

Although its attempts to play out as some sort of missing person drama perhaps sit at odds with its subject, the film is an engrossing yarn with a touch of visual flair from Malik Bendjelloul.

| Feb 13, 2020

Searching for Sugar Man is a sensitive yet creative documentary. Great for music and film fans alike.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 26, 2019

By far the best aspect of the film is to discover the music of Rodriguez, whose haunting lyrics truly were never appreciated in his native country.

| Jul 25, 2019

A heart-warming documentary about holding onto your dreams -- and perhaps one of this year's most enjoyable and accomplished films.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 31, 2019

It is the model of the modern music documentary, which shines a well-deserved light on obscure artists or periods of their lives, and presents it in a way that appeals to broader audiences than mere music obsessives.

| Dec 14, 2018

The best, most touching, most humbling documentary I've ever seen about a musician I've never heard of.

| Sep 1, 2018

Whether or not you know what finally happened to the film's subject, the reality is as rewarding as the myth.

| Aug 30, 2018

It becomes a portrait of a man who outlasted his times and went on to live in peace...

| Feb 22, 2018

Director Malik Bendjelloul attempts clear the air and really analyze the thoughts and emotions that formed Sixto Rodriguez's past work.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 26, 2018

An emotional fairy tale that doesn't fall into the melodramatic. [Full review in Spanish]

| Apr 8, 2017

A first-rate doc about the unsung Latino Bob Dylan who almost single-handedly brought the spirit of American civil rights protests to South Africa's fight against apartheid through his music.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 30, 2016

So lightweight and underdeveloped, you leave the theatre feeling like they still haven't found him yet.

Full Review | May 3, 2015

Intriguing docu about missing musician; some language, pot.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 1, 2013

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 20, 2013

As a documentary, "Searching for Sugar Man" falls short, but as an enormously satisfying feel-good story it hits the mark.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 24, 2013